te

was a weeping, broken girl, and the next, she was st

ers brushing against the cold brass of a letter opener. I wasn't l

is is madness. Tomorrow, we go to Don Antonio. We ask for an annulment. You go back to

. Instead, her h

vy brass letter opener from the desk. She stepped into my space, pressing the sharp poi

s stand up. "So we can both become the laughingstock of the Commission? I would rather

Adam's apple. She wasn't bluffing. The absolute certainty

s in a slow gesture of surrender.

around me, suffocating and intoxicating. "Julian humiliated me. But he also humil

spot on my neck where the brass had pressed. "He

e, and for the first time tonight, I saw something other tha

o room for argument. "Power isn't given, it's tak

g more than a useless drunk. A strange, long-forgotten spark ignited in my

trategy. "You will take control of the family's intelligence network. The docks, the unions, the speakeasies. I

pent my entire life avoiding. I threw my hands up in exasperati

er jaw tightening. "And I refuse to live a life less

f my situation. I was chained to a woman who was g

I needed air. I needed out of this room. I grabbed my car keys

ou'll leave?" she asked softly. "And make me the joke of the entire Moretti family befor

oor, the wolves in my family would tear her apart by morning.

er my signature, careless smirk, trying to salvage some

hat familiar, glacial calm. She didn't even look at

cou